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Posted by: jimlongo Jun 7 2007, 04:19 PM

Having been around the block a few times with different service providers, and hosting / administering a handful of domains and accounts I am starting to wonder about the feasability of running my own web / ftp / mail server.

Assuming I have the permission from my ISP and a static IP. Have the appropriate hardware. What else can you tell me about this? Any links or sites you would recommend, and lastly "is it a good idea?".


Thanks,
jim

Posted by: it's just me Jun 7 2007, 04:25 PM

I have actually been thinking the same thing. The one thing that many people use to make a server of their own is http://www.apache.org . I'm not sure how to go about setting it up, but it has been recommended to me many times. As far as creating a server I feel it's a good idea. One thing to think about though is if your server goes down you'll have to fix it. Make sure you have a complete understanding of the field before deciding to create your own.

Posted by: Dr Z Jun 7 2007, 06:47 PM

Settting up your server involves a lot of raises many issues and concerns, mostly on the hardware and connectivity.

Another approach may be getting a dedicated virtual server. Then you can careate a vhost for each of your domains. Not too complicated.

One down side is the e-mail addresses. Let's say you have two domains - abc.com & xyz.com. If you want to create sales@abc.com & sales@xyz.com. No can do!

Posted by: jimlongo Jun 8 2007, 11:36 AM

Hey where's the encouragement?

My ISP gives me 4mbPs with a static IP.

I'm thinking (since we're a Macintosh shop) to just buy a copy of http://www.apple.com/support/macosxserver/, which has Apache, php, mysql, mail services, file services, etc, in one package. This would be easier from my perspective to set-up and administer.

Considering the light load that this would have to carry, I'm thinking that a retired dualG4 workstation with 2GB RAM and a raid would be a whole lot faster than sharing a lightning fast Dell or HP server with 500 other virual domains.

As for paying to rent a dedicated server that's far too expensive from what i've seen.

What about DNS servers? I''ve been told it's easier and safer to use either my ISP or another DNS server . . . like http://xname.org/. Any opinions on this?

Posted by: Christian J Jun 8 2007, 02:28 PM

QUOTE(jimlongo @ Jun 8 2007, 06:36 PM)